The present invention relates to amphibious vehicles and in particular to an amphibious vehicle capable of operation in rough water and high in-water speeds.
Amphibious vehicles have been known for many years. It has been reported that only one amphibious vehicle has been made in commercial production. That amphibious vehicle was the Amphicar, which was built in Germany from 1961 to 1968. This vehicle had a top speed of only 7 mph in water. The Amphicar, was driven in the water by a pair of propellers.
In June 2004, a Gibbs Aquada set a record for crossing the English Channel by averaging over 13 miles per hour and having a top speed of approximately 30 miles per hour.
Another amphibious vehicle, the Watercar disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,808,430 filed by the present applicant, achieves in-water speeds of approximately 45 miles per hour. The Watercar has a frame which supports a body which has a buoyant hull portion. The Watercar suspension includes coil over shock absorbers and the top mounting points of the coil over shock absorbers are mounted to cylinders allowing the front and rear wheels to be retracted (raised) by lifting the coil over shock mounting points. A water jet pump assembly is supported in the body and has a water intake in the bottom of the hull portion. An impeller moves water rearwardly to a water outlet jet at the stern of the hull portion of the vehicle. An engine is supported by the frame and is mounted over the water jet pump assembly. The engine drives both the wheels and the water jet pump selectively through a power transfer assembly. The frame of the Watercar has two longitudinal frame members joined near the bow by a bridge frame supporting the front wheel controls, and at the rear by a rear bridge frame extending upwardly and connected by a cross member. Port and starboard front and rear wheel bottom plates extend from a recessed position to an extended position where they slide under the raised wheels. The in-water character of the Watercar is basically that of a flat bottom boat without a scag. A scag was not included because of road clearance during on-land use, and the cost and difficulty of including a deployable scag. As a result of the absence of the scag, the Watercar does not turn as well as it might had it included a scag and flat bottom boats generally have a poor ride in rough water. Further, some features of the Watercar are expensive to manufacture and results in a fairly expensive product. The '430 patent is herein incorporated in it's entirety by reference.